Ayumu Iwasa ended his victory drought in the second race of the Super Formula held at Fuji, while Kakunoshin Ohta saw his chances of clinching the title dissipate in an incident with Igor Fraga.
Ohta, driver for Dandelion Racing, entered the race with the possibility of securing the championship, but needed to finish ahead of Fraga, who had won the first race of the weekend. In the early moments of the competition, Ohta and Iwasa appeared to be candidates for victory, with Iwasa taking the lead in the first lap and Ohta managing to overtake Fraga to secure second place.
After a safety car period caused by Yuto Nomura’s stoppage, the mandatory pit stop strategies changed the course of the race. Ohta entered the pits on lap 17, at which point he was overtaken by Toshiki Oyu, who had pitted earlier. In an attempt to pass Oyu, Ohta collided with him in turn 3, resulting in Fraga regaining positions.
With the pressure to secure the title, Ohta attempted a risky overtake in turn 10, but ended up making a mistake that left him out of the competition after crashing into Fraga. This incident prompted another safety car period, further complicating the situation for the championship leader.
When the race resumed on lap 25, Iwasa was leading the operations, followed by Nobuharu Matsushita and Zak O’Sullivan, who had recovered from the initial positions. Sho Tsuboi’s accident on the following lap forced another stoppage, which ultimately allowed Iwasa to consolidate his victory.
Iwasa made a perfect launch in the final restart, clearly placing himself in front. O’Sullivan, who displayed an aggressive style, made his way to second place, overtaking Matsushita in a standout move on the last lap.
With this victory, Iwasa positions himself as the main competitor to Ohta in the standings, although he is now 33.5 points behind with only 46 points at stake in the upcoming race in Suzuka. Matsushita secured third place, and Oyu finished fourth, while Sacha Fenestraz completed the top five, replacing Makino at the end.
The next championship event will take place in Suzuka, where emotions will run high in the title fight.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
